Old crushes die hard
by TheDragonflyInn
Summary: Set right after Rory finds out about Logan's Thanksgiving adventures with Honor's bridesmaids in season 6 episode 16 "Bridesmaids revisited". But, instead of running into Doyle at Rich Man's Shoe, she runs into Jess, who's visiting New Haven on a book tour, but is that really his only motive for visiting New Haven?
1. Chapter 1

_Set right after Rory finds out about Logan's Thanksgiving adventures with Honor's bridesmaids in season 6 episode 16 "Bridesmaids revisited".  
Instead of running into Doyle at Rich Man's Shoe, she runs into Jess, who's visiting New Haven on a book tour, but is that really his only motive for visiting New Haven? _

_Some conversation borrowed from season 6, episode 18 "The Real Paul Anka", and the conversation in the beginning of the episode is from season 6, episode 16 "Bridesmaids revisited"._

_I'm not a native speaker of English, and I've tried my very best to avoid spelling mistakes, but some grammatical errors have probably snuck in there, hope you'll be able to overlook that! And also, this is my first Fan Fiction writing ever, so be gentle, and I'll be thankful for all tips and constructive criticism you'll hopefully be sending my way.  
_

_And last, but definitely not least: Amy Sherman Palladino and the other writers that created this series are geniuses and I can't possibly live up to their standard, but since the show was cancelled (and honestly didn't end the way I wanted it to), FanFiction seems to be the way to go!_

* * *

Trying to numb her pain after finding out about Logan and the bridesmaids, Rory, already intoxicated by the drinks she managed to fill herself with since she walked in to Rich Man's Shoe not long ago and the several glasses of champagne she poured herself waiting for Logan to show up after the ceremony, leans over the bar to get the barkeeps attention.  
"Hit me, barkeep"  
The man looks at her, sighing.  
"That's your third one", the barkeep leans his forearm against the bar and looks her in the eye.  
Rory looks up at him with an irritated face.  
"What are you, my mother?"  
"Nope" The barkeep looks at her, indecisive, trying to make out whether to refill her drink or offer her a glass of water.  
"No, you're not. I'm not driving, and I live right over…there" Rory points her arm aimlessly around her. "or somewhere near there." Hesitatingly she waves her arm in the opposite direction. "Or there. But it's close, and I'm walking, and I want another drink."  
"Okay", the barkeep sighs, gives up, and hands her another drink.

A waitress walks by, reaching for a bunch of napkins stashed up in a pile in front of Rory. Rory grabs the napkins, looks at the waitress and says, in an irritated voice:  
"Hey! These are mine."  
The waitress looks at her, a bit confused.  
"I was just gonna get them out of your way"  
Rory looks at her, clutching her napkins.  
"Don't take what's mine. These came with _my_ drinks. He put them down in front of _me_. I did not ask you to move them, did I?"  
"Whatever", the waitress shrugs her shoulders and leaves Rory with her napkins, which she carefully puts down in front of her.  
"Snappy comeback. Dorothy Parker knows about you?" She says in direction of the waitress. "Sick of people touching my stuff", she continues to mumble to herself, while putting the napkins down in front of her and taking a big sip from the drink the barkeep put down in front of her.  
"Is it okay for an old friend to sit down here, or do you need the extra chair for your collection of napkins, which you seem to hold very dear?", a voice says behind her. She turns around in the direction of the voice and almost falls off her barstool when she sees who the voice belongs to.  
"Jess?" She says, as if she can't really believe her eyes.

He just stands there, looking at her, smiling.  
She jumps down from her barstool, and for a minute she forgets all about the excruciating pain that had driven her to the pub, and more specifically to the bar of the pub.  
"Oh my god, Jess! What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in like…since…well, when we where…you know, with him…in this pub…with your book…and you left"  
He shrugs his shoulders.  
"I'm here on some publishing business, and I thought I'd swing by this pub and grab a bite before hitting the hotel. Heard the burgers are good here, didn't really get to try one last time though, but enough about me, what about you? You looked a bit distracted here, with your napkins and all, wasn't sure I dared come over. So… what's the deal with the napkins? You started a collection of bar napkins?"  
"Well…I just…they come with the drinks…you know…", she answers, not really sure how much she wants to tell him about what is really going on. She doesn't know where they stand with each other, he had seemed pretty upset last time they met.  
Jess lifts his eyebrows and smiles at her.  
"You wanna come sit down with me? I have a table over there", he points towards a more secluded area of the pub.  
She looks first at him, then at his table, and then at him again. She seems nervous, fiddling her hands.  
"You can bring your napkins if you want.", he says smiling with a gesture towards the napkins.  
"Naw…no…she, she can have them now…if she still wants them…I mean, they're just napkins, right?"  
Jess looks confused and starts leading Rory towards his table. She staggers a bit, and he offers her his arm for support. After hesitating just a second she grabs his arm.

An uncomfortable silence emerges as they sit down at Jess' table. Rory spins the glass with her drink slowly back and forth in front of her, and Jess looks down at his plate, aimlessly moving some of the leftovers from his dinner around with a fork.  
"So…", he says, putting the fork down and looking at her.  
She puts down her glass and interrupts him.  
"So you're here on publishing business you said? Tell me more about it."  
He sighs.  
"So apparently, your newfound interest in napkin collecting is not something you want to discuss?"  
She avoids eye contact with him and looks down at her drink.  
"Maybe later, right now, I would be happy to talk about anything other than the reason for me ordering enough drinks to start a small collection of napkins."  
"Okay." He looks at her with a worried face, but decides to humor her and let her tell him what's wrong when she feels like it. "Well, I'm out on a small tour again, advertising my book, actually went kind of well last time I was here, so now I teamed up with two other guys, trying to talk even more people into reading our stuff and putting it on stock . We're keeping it kind of low key, hitting small bookstores, nothing fancy really."  
She smiles and looks up at him.  
"That sounds great Jess! I'm so happy for you!"  
"Hey, the tour just started, don't get too excited, we could still end up having to drag almost all the copies of our books back with us to Philly."  
"But still, that's great!"  
"Yeah, kind of, I'm content with the way things are going."  
"Content? That's very modest of you."  
"Well, you know me, always been a very modest type of guy.", he smiles and continues: "So, hoping this is still on the avoiding the napkin collection track we're on, but what are you doing these days? Still in the DOR, or what was it?"  
"DAR, and no, or yes, I'm probably theoretically still in it, but I'm back at Yale."  
"Good, good. I never liked that you dropped out you know."  
"Yeah, you said something to that end last time we met. Actually, you're now looking at the editor of the Yale Daily News."  
"Are you kidding? That's amazing!"  
"Not as amazing as you, Mr. Writer. But yeah, feels great. Don't get to write as much as I would like though, mostly assigning and motivating, hand-holding and rewriting."  
Jess smiles.  
"Yeah, and you love it, every minute of it. Come on, tell me you don't."  
Rory smiles back at him, whatever it was that troubled her before seems to have been pushed away for the time being.  
"I do. I do love it. It's exciting."

They kept talking and catching up for quite some time, still smoothly avoiding the napkin collection reasons.  
Jess looks around them, they're almost the last ones left in the pub, and the waitresses are hovering around them, waiting for them to leave so they can start cleaning up. He leans over the table and whispers to Rory:  
"I think if we don't leave they're gonna kick us out."  
She looks around and they get up and leave the pub.

"So.." Jess hesitates, looking a bit nervous. "You have some place you need to be, someone ready to call the cops if you don't show up, or do you wanna continue catching up? I do have a pretty nice hotel room just a few blocks away."  
Rory looks at him, hesitating, and he quickly continues:  
"I really mean catching up, as in talking. Nothing else, even though hotel room might gave you the impression I meant something else, I just meant…it's freezing cold out here…and hypothermia isn't all that fun…so I hear…I'm sorry. I'll stop talking and walk you back to your place now. I didn't mean to…"  
"Some more catching up sounds nice", Rory interrupts him. "Which way is your hotel?"


	2. Chapter 2

_Since you had to wait two days after signing up before being able to post a story, I managed to finish chapter 2 of this story while I was waiting._

* * *

"So this is it, my home for the weekend." Jess sweeps his arm out, as to show her the hotel room.  
"It's nice." She smiles, looking a bit nervous.  
He starts helping her off with her coat.  
"Do you want something to drink?", he asks while he puts away her coat. "Something without alcohol maybe, to wear the buzz off?", he whispers in her ear as he is walking by her.  
She doesn't answer, instead she grabs his arm decidedly and pulls herself closer to him.  
"Sorry", he holds his hand up in front of him as to excuse himself. "I can get something with alcohol in it, if it's that's important to you."  
"Ssch!", she just says and puts her lips to his. A bit surprised, but pleased with the development he kisses her back.

He can't help it, nor explain it, but a warm fuzzy feeling takes over his whole being. He can't remember it ever feeling this good kissing another person. He wraps his arms around her and pulls her closer to him and deepens the kiss. He can't stop, he can't get enough. He can finally understand what people mean when they say 'I wish this moment could last forever', he had always thought it to be a cheesy line. But this. This moment. Kissing her. Kissing Rory.

Suddenly she pulls away from him, and for a few seconds they stand quiet, inches away, just staring at one another.  
"I'm sorry, Jess", she says quietly and puts her hand up to her mouth, as if that was the only way to stop her lips from wanting more.  
"Sorry about what?", he says and takes a few steps back. He stands there looking at her, with his guard up, reminding her so much of the 17-year old boy she loved all those years ago.  
"I'm kind of still with Logan."

Jess sighs, starting to look irritated.  
"Kind of? So what is this then? You kissing me, what is this? I don't deserve this Rory. I thought you… I thought _we_, finally…" His voice dies out and he just stands there, looking crushed.  
She hesitates for a second, and starts rambling with an irritated voice.  
"He cheats on me…not only with one bridesmaid, but with two, and then I'm not even counting the bridesmaid he just fooled around with. And still, I can't even kiss you without feeling guilty. I mean it's _you_. Jess. Not some random bridesmaid that I don't even like, that I make up names about, like 'Blondie or Dizzy'. I like you, Jess, I always liked you, you know that. I mean, I broke up with Dean to be with you, and Dean never cheated on me, still I left him heartbroken to be with you instead. So why can't I even kiss you without feeling guilty, huh? Why?"

She sinks down on the bed and bursts in to tears. Jess gently sits down on the bed besides her, he looks confused but decides he better pin out the details at a later time. Anyways, her outburst just now gave him enough info for the time being, apparently she's still with that Logan guy, that jerk with the Porsche, and apparently he turned out to be exactly the kind of jerk Jess had thought him to be on their first encounter. He puts his arm around her and starts talking in what he hopes is a comforting voice.

"You _broke up_ with Dean to be with me, you didn't cheat on him. It's not who you are, you don't cheat, you don't lie and most of the time you go out of your way trying not to hurt the people around you. You're a good girl Rory Gilmore. No, in fact, you're a great girl, and if that stuck up, rich little brat can't see that, it's his loss, right?"  
"But you're right. You don't deserve this. It's so unfair of me to drag you in to this mess. I just… It felt so good seeing you there, at the pub."  
Jess puts his arms on her shoulders and forces her to meet his eyes.  
"Do you love him?"  
She tries to avoid the eye contact, but his grip around her shoulders is steady and almost as desperate as the look in his eyes.  
"Maybe. I don't know. I thought I did, before."  
"You thought you did before this, before the bridesmaids?"  
"Before the bridesmaids, before seeing you at the pub, I don't know. My heart literally skipped a beat when I saw you, your heart shouldn't skip for anyone else when you're in love. I mean, yes, we have history together you and I, but still, even for history, your heart shouldn't skip a beat. My heart doesn't skip a beat when I see Dean, and we have history together, not that I've seen him in a long time. Maybe now my heart would skip a beat for him as well, maybe I developed a condition: a skipping heart condition. Maybe I'll have to move and join a convent, so that my heart can have a normal rhythm; a non-skipping rhythm. And, in a convent you're not allowed to have boyfriends, so there's no risk of your boyfriend cheating on you with bridesmaids. Do they allow bridesmaids in a convent? I would like to continue my studies; do they let you study in a convent? Do you think there any convents near Yale?"  
"Hey, hey! Calm down. Maybe the convent can wait until tomorrow? Don't think they would let you in a convent in this intoxicated state anyways, so why don't you sleep it off, and if you're still set on joining a convent tomorrow, I'll drive your there myself."  
"I am actually pretty tired."  
"There you go. Make yourself comfortable, I'll go get you a glass of water."

Rory crawls down under the cover, when she hears Jess coming back into the room she quickly wipes some tears away from her face and smiles at him.  
"Thank you for taking care of me."  
He puts the glass of water down besides her on the bedside table.  
"Anytime."  
"Jess… if I had gone away with you when you asked me, you would never have slept with a pack of bimbo bridesmaids, would you?

How could this guy do this to her? To Rory, the most caring and loving person he'd ever met, how could he treat her like this? Hurt her like this? He himself would probably not have won the boyfriend of the year award back when he was with Rory, but he never intentionally hurt her, he never cheated on her. Yes, he did leave her, and yes he broke her heart, but that was only because he didn't want to drag her into the big pile of mess that he was back then. He thought she'd be better off without him.

He tries to smile when he answers her._  
_"Well, bimbos never really been my thing you know, but I guess we will never know what would have happened, will we? Try to get some sleep now, and we'll talk more tomorrow, when there's actually a chance that you'll remember the conversation." He says while tucking her in and kissing her forehead.  
"You wouldn't have, I know you wouldn't", she mumbles, half asleep already.

Jess gets up from the bed and sits down in an armchair at the other end of the hotel room. He is too agitated to sleep. He had thought about searching her up, in fact that was the reason he had insisted on going to New Haven on this book tour of theirs, although he told his co-workers it was because he thought their books would be better received here, in a college town, than in New York; competing with every other up and rising author.

But he had been afraid of what he might find, afraid that she had continued on the road she was heading down last time they met, afraid that she had turned into her grandmother: a society wife, giving cocktail parties and attending functions. But, other than the cheating boyfriend, she seemed to have gotten her life pretty much back in order since then.

Now she was the editor of the Yale Daily News. He was proud of her, she might have hit a bump or two in the road, but she was certainly back where she belonged. Truth to be told, the bumps in the road probably made him like her even more, if that was even possible, it showed that she was no more than human herself, capable of making mistakes. He figured that's why he gotten so angry at her during his last visit, all the time they where apart he had been putting her up on a pedestal, deemed her incapable of making mistakes.

He makes himself comfortable in the chair, pulls a blanket over himself and lets his mind wander off through all the "ifs" consistent throughout his history with Rory. At last he falls asleep, with a faint smile on his lips.


	3. Chapter 3

Rory opens her eyes and glances around; it takes her a few seconds to remember where she's at. She reaches for the glass of water standing besides the bed and sees Jess, curled up in what must most certainly be a very uncomfortable position in an armchair at the other side of the room. He is still sleeping. She almost empties the glass of water and puts it back down again, as quiet as she possibly can, she needs some time to collect her thoughts before he wakes up.

She kissed Jess last night, why did she do that? She kissed Jess, and then she told him about Logan. Exactly what had she told him about Logan? She can't really remember. She did on the other hand remember the hurt look on Jess' face when she had told him she was still with Logan. Was she still with Logan? If Logan thought their last fight qualified as a breakup, what wouldn't he think about this then? Was Logan waking up next to some other girl this morning?

She glances over at Jess again. She remembers how it had felt seeing him in the pub last night. It was so totally unexpected for him to show up like that, just out of the blue. She had tried to use him, to kiss him, to get back at Logan, to get revenge. Or was that really it? Was that really the only reason as to why she had kissed him? Was revenge the only feeling she felt at that exact moment when she grabbed Jess' arm? Was it revenge that had made her heart pound so hard she could almost hear it when her lips met Jess'? Was it revenge that made it feel so good when Jess kissed her back?

She crawls back under the cover and pulls it over her head, as if she is trying to shut out all thoughts. There's just too much to deal with, too much that needs to be thought through, too many hearts and heartbreaks at stake here, her own included. She needs more sleep.

Jess wakes up and stretches his stiff body. Man, that was one uncomfortable chair to sleep in. He stands up and looks over towards the bed, Rory is still sleeping. He takes a few steps closer and watches her sleep, her brown hair curled up on the pillow, her face looking so calm and her lips looking so soft. She had kissed him with those lips last night. He smiled at the memory.

In his mind, she had been with him all this time. The first word he wrote on the first page of his book – in his mind, she was sitting right next to him, cheering him on. The first revise he did of his book – in his mind she had been revising it with him, with that concentrated look on her face that he loved so much. When his book got picked up by those publishing guys – in his mind, the first cheer he shared was with her.

She had pulled away from him. Last night, when they kissed, she had pulled away from him. She was still with Logan. He had cheated on her, several times by the way it sounded, and she was still with him. She had followed him, Jess, back to his hotel room, she – not he – had instigated the kiss. She had pulled herself closer to him and kissed him. But still she was with Logan. She hadn't mentioned anything about breaking up with Logan, she had mentioned wanting to cheat on him, like he cheated on her, but she hadn't said a word about breaking up with him. I'm kind of still with Logan – that was what she had said.

Jess goes into the bathroom, stops in front of the sink and splashes some cold water on his face. He takes a long look at himself in the mirror.  
"You had your chance buddy." He whispers to himself. "You had several chances actually, and you let each and every one of them pass you by. Now it's too late."

He sighs and steps out of the bathroom. He looks around him and finds a pen and a piece of paper. He scrabbles some words down on the piece of paper and puts it on top of the almost empty water glass besides Rory's bed. He then grabs his jacket and walks out of the hotel room.


	4. Chapter 4

_Some conversation is borrowed from season 6, episode 17 "I'm OK, You're OK". _

* * *

Rory wakes up for the second time, this time remembering instantly where she is. She looks over at the armchair and finds it empty, she looks around the rest of the hotel room, but finds no trace of Jess. Did he leave? Her heart drops at the thought of him leaving her here, without a word, just like he did all those years ago. She pulls her knees up and rests her head against them. He could at least have given her a chance to explain. She feels her eyes tearing up, she would have wanted to explain why she pulled away from the kiss last night. She really needs him to know that it was not because she didn't want to kiss him, she just didn't want it to be like that, like cheating on someone.

What did she want it to be like? She shakes her head, it's all too confusing right now. Does she feel something for Jess? Maybe. Maybe she had always felt something for him. Does she love Logan? Well, love can't just die out overnight like that, can it? The question is if she can ever trust him again. Does she want to be with Logan? She can't come up with an answer for that, she feels she needs to talk to him first, hear what he has to say, but she really doesn't feel like talking to him right now.

She leans over to the bedside table to grab the glass of water, and sees the note Jess left her. She quickly grabs it, as if she is afraid someone is gonna come and steal it away from her if she doesn't grab it quick enough, and starts to read it.

_Hey there sleepyhead!  
For my own safety I thought it was better I didn't wake you up until I had a large cup of coffee in my hand. Unfortunately, the coffee here at the hotel is really, bad. I'm serious, not even you could drink it!  
So, I'm just out on a coffee hunt (you didn't think I would just leave you stranded like that I hope – that would be so out of character for me)_

_Jess_

_P.s If I run into any nuns, I'll make sure to ask them about their convent's policy on studying_

The relief she feels when reading his note is surprising to her, she had actually really thought that he had left her stranded and gone back home to Philadelphia, or ran off to California. She looks at his note again and his jokes about leaving her stranded, and the nuns, the familiar tone in the note, it fills her stomach with butterflies.  
He has changed. He is not the 17-year old boy who picked up and left without a word. That 17-year old boy would never had left a note before going on a coffee hunt, that 17-year old boy would have assumed she'd knew that and left her feeling deserted and heartbroken until he came back.

She gets up from the bed and tries to straighten out the worst wrinkles in her dress. She picks up her phone and turns it on. She had turned it off yesterday, since Logan wouldn't stop calling.

One new voicemail, she sighs and calls up her voicemail to listen to it. It's Logan. Of course.  
"Hey Ace, it's me." He really sounds sad. Broken.  
"I've been looking everywhere for you, I even went to Paris' place, and boy was that a mistake. Look, I understand that you are upset, and I really wish you hadn't found out like that, but Rory I love you. You know that I love you. When I said that I was your boyfriend, I agreed to be faithful to you, which by the way was a first for me. And I thought it was gonna be hard, but it wasn't. Then I asked you to move in with me, I asked _you_ to move in with _me_, and I thought that was gonna be hard, but it wasn't. I have been completely faithful to you Rory. I have not been with another girl. I have not looked at another girl. I've not even thought about another girl. I thought we were broken up last Thanksgiving. I thought that's what the fight was. I thought that was what the separation was. Please Rory, you have to believe me." His voice has now changed from desperate to pleading.  
"Please call me back, please Rory. I love you."

Rory sighs and puts the phone down, tears running down her face. She sits down on the bed, now more confused than ever before. She buries her head in her hands and cries, she can't stop. She doesn't even know why she is crying, if it's over Logan's cheating, over his excuses and I love you's or if it's over hurting Jess the night before. She doesn't know, and that fact makes her cry even more.

She looks up at the sound of Jess opening the door and stepping in. She tries to wipe away all evidence of her crying, but as she can't stop sobbing it's all rather useless.  
Jess closes the door behind him and run towards her, putting the coffee cups down on the bedside table and kneels down on the floor next to her.  
"Rory? Rory, what's the matter?"  
She tries to say something, but the sobbing clogs up her voice and nothing but incomprehensible sounds escapes her throat.  
"Please tell me it isn't that stupid joke I made about leaving you stranded. I shouldn't have made it, I knew I shouldn't"  
A laughter slips through the tears.  
"No, it's not the joke. I liked the joke. It's…I don't know what it is. Logan left a message on my voicemail, and I'm so confused. I don't know. I really don't know what to do Jess."

Jess just sits there, staring at her, he has no idea what to say, how to make this better, how to consol her. He has never been good at these things. And of course she isn't crying over his joke about leaving her stranded, what was he thinking? She is crying over Logan, because she is in love with Logan, not him. He just wishes his heart would listen to all the logic thoughts going on in his brain.

They sit there in silence for some time, both of them preoccupied with their own thoughts about what's going on.  
"Jess." Rory says quietly, the sobbing has stopped completely now.  
He looks up at her.  
"What?" He says in a soft voice.  
"I'm sorry Jess. For everything. For dragging you in to this mess."  
He smiles and gets up from the floor and sits down besides her on the bed.  
"It's okay. Actually, feels good to be the knight in shining armor for a change, who would have known, huh?" He smiles and hands her the coffee cup. "Here, _this_ is really good coffee. Well, since I went and bought it from a coffee cart on campus, I bet you already knew that."  
She takes the coffee cup from his hand and holds it front of her, just staring at it.  
"You're supposed to drink it you know? Thought you of all people would have had the coffee thing down by know?" He tries to smile, but it looks more like a grin.

He is nervous, he is nervous about what she is going to say next. He keeps talking to prevent her from talking. He does not want hear her explaining her love for Logan to him, he is not sure he can take that.  
"Look, about the kiss last night." Rory starts, but Jess interrupts her.  
"It's okay. I get it. You wanted to get back at…him…" Jess can't even say his name out loud.  
"Well, I thought that's what I wanted."  
Jess interrupts her again.  
"But you couldn't. That's okay. Not sure if you remember but we settled last night that you are not the kind of girl that cheats." He forces himself to smile, pats her on the back and gets up from his seat. "Really, it's okay, I understand."

Jess goes over to his bag and picks up some papers and starts organizing them. They don't really need to be organized; he just needs to keep himself busy, doing something.  
"Jess, listen…" Rory has gotten up from her seat and stands behind him, putting her hand on his back.  
Jess sighs, puts the papers down and turns around.  
"Really Rory, it's okay. You don't need to explain yourself to me."  
"But I really need you to know…"  
He interrupts her.  
"You need me to know what? That you love him? I already know that – the fact that you're still with him kind of speaks for itself on that matter." His voice is irritated and he paces round the hotel room while speaking. "Ever thought that I might not want to hear about it? Ever thought it might hurt, just a little bit, hearing you profess your love for him?"  
"I wasn't going to… and what do you mean still with him?"  
"What do _I_ mean still with him? You said it, last night: I'm kind of still with Logan. That's your words!"  
"Well, yeah…but _kind of_ still with him, meaning I don't know! Last time I saw him I was rushing out of a room, wasn't really the time or the place for a 'were do we stand with each other' kind of speak. And I didn't want to be like him, assuming that the fight meant we were broken off and go jump into bed with whoever happened to cross my path."  
"Whoever? Jee Rory, thanks for that!"  
"I didn't mean it like that, and you know it!"  
"Do I? What, am I a mind reader now?"  
"Please Jess."  
"No! Listen Rory, I've tried being really supportive about this, I've tried being a good friend. But I can't, okay. So, go! Go, make up with your boyfriend. Don't tell him about the kiss, or do if you like, it was just with whoever anyway, didn't really mean anything, sure he'll understand." He walks fast towards the door, grabs his bag on his way, opens the door and looks back at her.  
"Goodbye Rory." He shuts the door and leaves.


	5. Chapter 5

_A lot of conversation is borrowed from season 6, episode 16 "Bridesmaids revisited" and some lines from season 6, episode 17 "I'm OK, You're OK".  
This is because I wanted to keep my story as close to the original story as possible, just baking the Jess twist into it._

_And also, Paris' and Doyle's fight in episode 16/17 has been postponed and instead takes place the night after Logan's and Rory's fight, and not really in the night either, more like in the middle of the day._

* * *

After Jess' leaving Rory just stands there, perplexed, frozen. It's like her feet are glued to the floorboards. She can't believe he just left. Is he coming back?  
Somehow, Jess walking out on her like that seems to hurt even more than finding out about Logan cheating on her.  
Was this the way it was always going to be? Jess comes around and suddenly she can't think about anyone else? It happened with Dean. She tried to fight it then, tried to deny her feelings for Jess, but in the long run she couldn't help it, she was drawn to him, like a moth to a flame. Maybe she should end things with Logan? Maybe it was just stupid trying to fight it? Oddly enough the thought of ending things with Logan didn't make her sad. All she could think about was the feeling of Jess' lips close to hers, his arms around her, drawing her closer.

All of a sudden she knows exactly what to do. She starts searching through her bag and finds both paper and a pen. She sits down in the armchair and starts writing.

_How could you ever think that you would be just whoever to me? _

_I don't think you ever realized how important you are to me, how important your friendship is to me, how important it has always been._

_If it weren't for you, I might never have gone back to Yale. My mother spent over five months trying to force me to go back, and you know how important my mother is to me. Still I didn't go back. It wasn't until after you showed up and yelled at me for dropping out that I really realized how far off on the wrong track I was. _

_I really think we need to talk. That kiss we shared last night, it meant something to me. I need to leave for now. I have to _

She stops for a while, trying to find the right words for what it is she has to do. Well, she has to convince Paris to let her be her roommate again, she needs to get some stuff from Logan's place and she needs to finalize the break up with Logan, to make sure she won't repeat his little mistake. She sighs and keeps writing.

_I have to take care of some things. I'm leaving my number, so call as soon as you see this._

_Don't let this be one of those time were you just disappear without a trace. Please Jess, just call me and let me know what you're thinking? 000-0000000_

She folds the paper and writes _Jess_ on it and leaves it where she is sure he will see it the moment he steps through the door.

She puts on her jacket and looks in her handbag. She can't seem to find her wallet. An irritated mutter slips out while she starts searching through her pockets. She comes up empty handed and with a worried look on her face she starts searching through her handbag again. It's missing! She must have left it at the bar last night. Well, the pub isn't that far from Paris' apartment, she could probably swing by on her way there.

Rory steps in to the pub and walks up to the bar, she waves and gets the barkeeps attention. It's a different barkeep than last night, but after some explaining and describing she finally gets her wallet back and heads towards the door. She stops for a second when sees Doyle sitting at the end of the bar. She walks up to him.  
"Hello Doyle."  
He looks at her, clearly not sober.  
"Well, hello, Rory. Fancy meeting you here."  
"Very fancy, and quite early in the day. I was just heading to your apartment, to talk to Paris actually."  
Doyle sighs.  
"She threw me out."  
Rory sits down next to him.  
"What? Why?"  
"I told her you were thinking of making her 'Campus Safety' piece a series and that I told you not to."  
"Why would you do that?"  
He sighs again, shrugging his shoulders.  
"I don't know. It just came out. We were fighting. She was miserable and she is not sleeping and just sitting at that craft table all the time, hot-gluing bead after bead after bead. And then when I tried to take the glue gun out of her hand, all hell broke loose."  
"Oh, boy." Rory stands up, puts her hand on his shoulders, and breathes in "I…"  
Doyle interrupts her.  
"She kicked me out, told me to leave. I came here."  
"That really sucks Doyle. And I'm really, really sorry, but I have to go."  
"Oh, okay, well, thanks for the company."  
He jumps down from his chair and gives her a hug.  
"Bye Rory."  
"Bye Doyle."  
Rory walks away, leaving Doyle at the bar, staring into his drink.

Rory walks up the stairs to Paris' apartment, still wearing the same clothes she has been wearing since the fight with Logan at Honors wedding. She sighs and knocks on the door. Paris's voice is heard from inside the apartment.  
"Get the bowls and chopsticks out, guys. Somebody pick a movie already." Paris opens the door, the door chain still on. She looks a bit surprised at seeing Rory. "I thought you were Hing Yee's."  
Rory holds her hand up and shrugs her shoulders.  
"Sorry."  
"What do you want?"  
"Can I talk to you for a sec?"  
Paris hesitates for a second, and then gives in.  
"Fine." She unchains the door and lets Rory in.  
Rory steps in to the apartment and looks around, confused.  
"Where is everybody?"  
"I ordered food for ten, and I didn't want the delivery guy to look at me like I was a hog. I don't need to display my patheticness to the world"  
"You're not pathetic, Paris."  
"Doyle and I broke up."  
"I know. I sort of ran into Doyle earlier."  
"Oh, yeah?"  
"Yeah, he looked pretty upset."  
"I don't care." Paris folds her arms in front of her chest, like a shield.  
"Okay."  
"So, is that why you came over here, cause you heard that we broke up?"  
"Well…yes."  
"You're a really good friend." Paris walks over and hugs Rory.  
"Oh, not really."  
"I throw you out, I treat you like dirt, no one else can stand me, but you come over to make sure I'm alright."  
"Well, eh, Paris?"  
Paris stops hugging Rory, and looks skeptically at her.  
"Yeah?"  
"In the name of full disclosure, I should tell you, Logan and I broke up too, yesterday. I'm moving out."  
"That explains his late night visit last night. I figured he had just suffered amnesia and forgot you didn't live here anymore. How come?"  
"He cheated on me…with an entire wedding party."  
"Oh…nice."  
"Yeah."  
"Men suck."  
"Yeah, most of them do suck."  
"Can't count on them. They never have your back."  
"No, most of them don't."  
"What's that?"  
"What's what?"  
"What's that 'most of them', you haven't already forgiven him. Have you?"  
"No, I…I was just thinking about someone else, a friend."  
"Okay." Paris looks suspiciously at Rory. "You can stay here, you know, if you want."  
"Really?"  
"Sure. Take my room if you want. I've been sleeping at my crafts table lately.  
"Thanks, Paris."  
"Sure…Hungry?" I got food coming.  
"Starving."  
"Hey I just realized, when the food arrives now, I really can ask someone to get the bowls. Silver lining, huh?"  
"Sure is."

A moment later Paris and Rory sits on Paris' couch, eating take-out food and talking.  
"So, where were you?" Paris asks, lifting her head from the box of food in front of her.  
"Where was I when?" Rory asks in a confused tone.  
"Last night, when Logan came here looking for you. Unless you are some sort of Connecticut state-champion at hide-and-seek, I'm guessing you were not at his place. And if you went back to your mother's in Stars Hollow, I doubt you would come here today wearing a fancy dress and a party handbag. So, where were you?"  
Rory hesitates and puts her food down.  
"Well…I ran into a friend yesterday."  
"A friend? Who? Anyone I know? Tell me it wasn't that Joni from the paper. I swear since you and I got in that fight she's been trying to weasel her way in and replace me as your best friend. So? Was it Joni? Bet she was thrilled helping you out, taking you in for the night, being all supportive and nice."  
"It wasn't Joni. It was a friend from way back. Actually, you've met him once. In Stars Hollow. Jess."  
"The Jack Kerouac guy? Didn't you two date?"  
"Well, yeah, but that was a long time ago. Now we're just friends." Were they really just friends, or was there something more between them? She thinks about the note she wrote him. Either way, she is not ready to get into a discussion about it with Paris. She continues: "He's in town promoting his book, he wrote a book you know."  
Paris takes a long look at Rory.  
"Spill it."  
"Spill what Paris?"  
"You and Kerouac, what happened? You're the worst liar I know. You look even more guilty than Bill Clinton did when the Lewinsky affair was revealed. You would have sucked as a politician you know. So spill it."  
"Well, I kissed him."  
"You kissed him…and then what?"  
Rory pulls back, chocked at what Paris is implying.  
"Nothing! I felt guilty about cheating on Logan so I stopped, pushed him away."  
"You felt guilty about cheating on the guy that cheated on you with an entire wedding party?" Paris puts down her food as well, and adds in a sarcastic tone: "Makes sense."  
"It wasn't actually an entire wedding party, just a couple of bridesmaids."  
Paris stands up and starts waving her hands, agitated in a way that only Paris can get.  
"Oh, just a couple of bridesmaids, well that's a whole other story! I mean, what's a bridesmaid or two, huh? In the long run, how cares? I mean sleeping with a bridesmaid, that's not even cheating, it's just one of the many duties a groomsman has to do during a wedding. It's a dirty business, but someone's gotta do it, right? Isn't that Logan just a terrific guy, sleeping with not only one, but several of the bridesmaids, so that the other groomsmen didn't have to. Yep, you can always count on him, a real stand-up guy!"  
"Paris! Stop it! He didn't sleep with them during the wedding. He slept with them at Thanksgiving, when he thought we were broken up!"  
"Oh, so he thought you were broken up, cause you weren't speaking to each other? Is this a mutual agreement then, you don't speak for what, two days – then you're broken up and then either one of you can sleep with someone else and it's not cheating? Is that how it works? Why are you defending him Rory?"  
"Paris, sit down please. I'm not defending him. I'm just really confused here, trying to sort everything out. Okay?"  
"Okay."  
"And by the way, whether Logan actually thought we were broken up or not, isn't what he did during Thanksgiving kind of the same thing as I did last night, kissing Jess after our fight I mean."  
"Do you really think that whore hound, that two-bit, spoiled waste of a trust fund, did stop for even a second while he was spreading his seed around all of New Haven to think about your feelings? He might have stopped for rehydration, maybe he stopped to catch his breath, but out of guilt? Well then, wouldn't he have stopped after the first bridesmaid?"

* * *

_Ok, so I'm a pretty quick writer once I have the plot set out in my head and I've actually started on chapter 7 and chapter 8. But…chapter 6…this is the chapter were I planned for Rory to finalize the breakup with Logan, and I'm drawing a blank. I have no idea how I want that to go, cause really, I feel sorry for him, I have nothing against the guy, I just don't think he's right for Rory._

So, if you have any hopes or wishes regarding her breaking up with Logan, please let me know so I can get that chapter done already and get back to the good stuff (Rory and Jess)!


	6. Chapter 6

The elevator ride up to Logan's apartment had never felt so long before. Several times she has to fight the urge to press the emergency stop button and go back down again. When the elevator finally reaches his floor she feels like throwing up.

She takes a few deep breaths before she opens the door and steps in to the apartment. Logan is sitting on the couch and when he sees her he gets up and comes towards her.  
"I'm just here to get some of my stuff. I'll arrange for someone to come pick the rest up later." Her voice is calm, she's not angry with him anymore, she's just tired. She wants to get this done and get out of here.  
"Rory." He sounds tired. She shakes her head and walks over to a closet and pulls out a bag. He grabs her arm.  
"Please Rory." He looks devastated. "I've been trying to call you all night. Did you get my message?"  
She nods and stands still, her arms hanging along her side and the bag hanging from her hand. Logan smiles.  
"Okay. That's good. That's good. We can get through this. You and me. Together. As long as we are together we can get through anything."  
She shakes her head.  
"No." She shakes her head again and releases her arm from his grip. "No Logan, we can't."  
He's starting to get upset, he raises his voice while Rory starts packing clothes and other belongings in to her bag.  
"Because of what those vipers said? Don't be like that, don't let that come between us."

Rory closes the bag and sighs. Not once has he said he's sorry. Not once has he admitted that he has made a mistake. Like a broken record he just keeps insisting that it's just a misunderstanding, that he has done nothing wrong. She drops her bag on the floor, she doesn't feel tired anymore, no, the anger she feels because he can't seem to recognize that he has made a mistake has replaced the tiredness.  
"No. Not because of what they said." Her voice is now raised as well. "Because of what you did. You did this to us, not those girls, you."  
"I thou…"  
She interrupts him.  
"It doesn't matter what you thought. What you thought doesn't change the fact that you slept with those girls. You slept with them, and you didn't tell me."  
"In my mind I was not cheating on you!"  
"Well, in my mind, you were Logan!"  
"So, what? You're just gonna leave? You're just gonna walk out of here and never look back? Come on Rory, I love you, I would never cheat on you!"  
"But you did Logan."  
"You can't leave me Ace. You can't leave me like this."  
"Adultery is a legal cause for divorce, pretty sure it would qualify as a cause for a breakup as well."  
"I didn't cheat on you."  
"Irreconcilable differences, that's also a legal cause for divorce. Either way, I'm going."

She picks up her bag and walks towards the door. He follows her and when she puts her hand on the doorknob to open the door he grabs her hand and forces her to look at him. His eyes are flooding with tears.  
"Please Rory. Just give me one more chance. Give me one more chance and I will show you every day for the rest of my life how much you mean to me, how much I love you." He lets go of her hand. His voice is soft now, pleading, begging her to stay.. "Please."  
"I can't be with someone who has betrayed me like you did. I just can't."  
He raises his voice again and there's a desperate glance in his eyes.  
"I didn't betray you Rory. I thought we were broken up, I thought you wanted nothing to do with me."  
"You _did_ Logan. You _did_ betray me. First by sleeping with Honor's friends, and that I could maybe have forgiven you for. But you didn't tell me. You _knew_ we were gonna meet them at Honor's wedding. You _knew_ what they were like. Still, you didn't tell me. And for that, I'm sorry, but I don't think I could forgive you."

She opens the door, steps out of the apartment and starts walking towards the elevator. Logan doesn't move. He just stands in the doorway watching her leave. For a few moments before the elevator doors closes their eyes meet and the sight of Logan standing there, looking so small, so crushed, drives the tears Rory has been holding back the whole time to her eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

_As I mentioned earlier, I started writing chapter 7 before writing chapter 6, so it's already done and here it is._

* * *

For the second time that day Rory walks up the stairs to Paris' apartment, still wearing the same dress. A shower and some new clothes, that's all she wishes for in the entire world right now. Well, that and a phone call from Jess.

She picks up her keys and attempts to unlock the door when she realizes that it's already open. Paris would never leave the door unlocked, even if she was at home; that's the first thing Paris imprinted in Rory's mind the first time she moved in: never, ever, under any circumstances leave the door unlocked! Worried that something might be wrong, Rory rushes in to the apartment, only to find Paris and Doyle in a very incriminating position on the couch. Apparently they have resolved their issues and made up.  
Without them even noticing Rory's presence, she backs out of the apartment and closes the door.

What now? Where to go? Rory checks her phone again. Still no word from Jess. She steps out of the apartment building and starts wandering aimlessly through town. She decides to call her mother, to tell her about the break up with Logan. She sits down on a park bench and dials Lorelais number.

"Hello?"  
"Hey, it's me."  
"Hey you! How was the wedding?"  
"Well.." Rory takes a deep breath. "Logan and I kind of broke up and I'm back living with Paris again."  
There's a silence on the other end of the phone.  
"Mum? You still there?"  
"Wh-what? Why? What happened?" Lorelai sounds confused.  
"Well, he cheated on me."  
"No. Oh, I'm so sorry hun. When did this happen? At the wedding?" Lorelai is furious, but she figures she better not bash too hard at Logan until she knows what has happened. Logan has always been a sensitive subject between the two of them, and she doesn't want to say anything she might have to regret if the break up would turn out to be just a temporary one. Besides, Rory doesn't sound that crushed, she sounds more informative, as if she might as well be calling to tell her what the weather was like in New Haven.  
"No…no, it happened at Thanksgiving, when he thought we were broken up. I just found out about it at the wedding. Before the wedding actually, apparently he hooked up with Honor's bridesmaids."  
"Woo…Wait a second here! Bridesmaids…as in plural, as in more than one?"  
"Yeah, well, I really rather not talk about it right now."  
"Okay, I get it. So, how are you holding up? You're okay? You want me to come pick you up, take you home, smother you with my motherly affection?" Lorelai is on her way out the door, keys in hand.  
"Nah…it's okay." She hesitates a moment before she continues: "I…I have some things I need to do."  
"Yeah?" Lorelai stops and slowly puts the keys down. Something is going on. Rory's boyfriend since many years back has just cheated on her, and still she doesn't sound upset. She continues: "Like what?"  
"Well…I sort of ran into Jess yesterday."  
"Jess? Luke's nephew Jess? Tells you he loves and then skips town, Jess?  
"Yeah, him."  
"Okay. Wow. So what now? You're with Jess now?" Lorelai sounds irritated, she doesn't mean to, it's just the sound of Jess' name that upsets those emotions.  
"No…he…eh…we…we kind of got into a fight this morning."  
"Whao…whao, whao, whao, back up the tape here missy. This morning? You ran into him _yesterday_ and you got into a fight _this_ morning? Meaning, you spent the night together?"

Rory sighs, she should have anticipated this. Even though she was not 17 anymore she should have anticipated her mother freaking out at the thought of her daughter spending the night with Jess, or with any guy she wasn't in a relationship with for that matter.  
"No mum, I swear, it was nothing like that. He slept in an armchair the whole night, he let me take the bed, and he slept in…an armchair, a pretty uncomfortable one as well by the look of it. He was a perfect gentleman."  
"Jess? Jess was a perfect gentleman?"  
"Don't sound so shocked. He's changed you know, he's grown up, matured."  
"Okay. If you say so."  
"He has. Rory's voice is tired, she wants to go home, she wants to change her clothes, take a shower and sleep.  
"Okay. Great. I mean…that's great. You sure, you're okay? You don't sound so okay."  
"I'm okay. It's just…the break up…it was hard. I've never broken up with anyone before, I mean I have never been the one doing the actual breaking. Dean did the breaking both times we were together. I most probably drove him to it, sure, but still he did the actual breaking. And Jess, well, he just left. Suddenly I can see where he was coming from, seems like an easy out."  
"Calm down honey. It was something you had to do. He'll be okay."  
"He just looked so crushed. When I left, he just stood there…looking crushed. Oh my god, what have I done? I've crushed another person, I'm horrible. Yesterday, I told him I loved him, today I crushed him."  
Lorelai hesitates.  
"Well…do you regret doing it? Breaking up with him?"  
"I don't want to be with him anymore, not after…everything. So, no I don't regret it, I just wish he hadn't looked so crushed."  
"Well, despite what he did, he loves you honey, of course he's crushed."

The both of them just sits quietly at each end of the phone, until Lorelai unexpectedly shouts out:  
"Dean!"  
"What?" Most of the time Rory has no problem following the winding paths of her mother's thoughts, but this time she has no idea where she's going, or where she's coming from.  
"You said you never actually done the breaking part of breaking up before, but you broke up with Dean, remember? When he built you that car?"  
"That's not exactly helping."  
"Sorry. But guess you and Jess have more in common than just that intellectual book-loving stuff, huh?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well, when you broke up with Dean. I mean, it wasn't _you_ telling _him_ you loved him and then running away, but it's not that far-fetched."  
"Mum!" Even though she tries to sound irritated, Lorelai can hear a faint sound of smiling in Rory's protests, which she takes as her cue to continue trying to cheer Rory up, take her mind of everything going on around her.  
"I'm just saying. If you and Jess hit it off and start dating, you'd probably want to clear that up first. I mean…you guys get in to a fight, you both start running in the same direction, that would just be awkward you know." She pauses for second, not sure she dares to ask the question she's about to ask. "Are you by the way?"  
"Are we what? Running? Well, I'm sitting down at the moment, so no. And Jess, well, I'm not sure."  
"Hitting it off. Thinking about dating. Are your hearts beating as one, are the stars aligned, is there a choir of angels singing sweet songs about eternal love in your ears?"  
"I don't know. I think so. I like him." Rory bites her lip and hesitates before she continues: "Would that be weird for you though?"  
"Well, the angel choir might be a bit weird, but as long as you keep them in _your_ head I think I can live with them."  
"No, I mean you being with Luke and all?"  
"I haven't thought about it. Should it be?"  
"I don't know."  
"Well, there'll be plenty of time for figuring out whether we should feel weird about it or not. So you are thinking about it? About being with Jess?"  
Rory smiles, it's a shy smile, as if she's afraid someone's going to see it.  
"Yeah, I think I am."  
"He has always been the one that got away."  
Rory is a bit surprised, hearing her mother speaking about Jess like that, she had been sure Lorelai would be dead set against them dating. She smiles again, openly this time.  
"Yeah, guess we never really had any closure."  
"Yeah…and you know what they say, when you don't get closure…"  
"What _do_ they say about that?"  
"Well…um…you know…then it's…not…eeh…closed."  
"Who says that?"  
"Yeah…I don't know."  
They both laugh.

"Hey!" Lorelai says. "Just thinking…if you end up with Jess, and I'm with Luke. What does that mean?"  
"What do you mean, what does that mean?"  
"Well, does that make me both your mother and your…I don't know, aunt-in-law?"  
"Euw…and I don't think there's such a thing as an aunt-in-law. I really hope there isn't!"  
"At least we would still have the same last names, even if we got married. We would be the big, happy, just a little bit creepy, Danes family."  
"Mom! Stop it, otherwise I'm gonna regret this decision! Besides, Jess' last name is Mariano, after his father, remember?"  
"Ah, pity. Well, kiddo, I'm gonna let you go chase after your man, should I maybe at least alert the border guards? Make sure he doesn't leave the county before you get a chance to talk to him?"  
"Mom, I mean it! Stop!"  
"Okay, I'm sorry. That was the last one. I promise you, no more 'we're gonna be related in more ways than one' or 'Jess fleeing the county' jokes. Ever."  
"I know you, you're so not done with those."  
"No, I'm not. I have dozens of them, just lining up in my head. I can't stop them, they have a life of their own. But I'll write them down, maybe read a few of them out to Paul Anka, that dog really loves my jokes, and I'll serve them to you at a more appropriate time. So now go! Go tell him how you feel. I don't have time for you anyways, I got some serious writing to do."  
"Bye mom."  
"Good bye, my one and only daughter…and soon to be niece-in-law."  
"You promised!"  
"Sorry, kid. Life of their own, I told you! Bye."  
"Bye."

Rory checks her messages to make sure Jess hasn't called while she was talking to her mother. Sure, she has call waiting on her phone, but maybe she missed it anyway.  
"You have no new messages." The sound of the automated voice makes her heart drop. Why hasn't he called? She looks at her watch, it's been several hours since he left the hotel room. He doesn't know anyone in New Haven besides her and he left some of his stuff in the room when he walked out on her so he must have gone back there, he must have seen her note. She sighs.

"No!" she says to herself with an upset tone. She's not going to put herself through this once again. She's a grown up woman for god's sake! She doesn't have to sit around like an insecure teenager waiting for his call. She could just go over there. Yes, she could march right up to him and give him a piece of her mind. She doesn't have to play along at this immature game of his.

Decidedly she gets up from the bench and starts walking towards the hotel. So, he thought he could just up and leave? Well, think again Jess Mariano!


	8. Chapter 8

_You've left me such wonderful reviews! Thank you everyone! I've had this chapter half-finished for a few days, but I happened to get all caught up in writing another story and since I have the attention span of a cocker-spaniel this chapter remained half-finished. _

_But, after reading your reviews (again: thank you, they made me really happy!) I wanted to give you something back, so I finished the chapter. it's very short, but I really don't know how to make it longer. Maybe I'll rewrite it when my other story's finished, but I couldn't keep you wonderful reviewers and followers waiting for that long: So here it is. (I think this will be the last chapter in this story, mainly 'cause I have absolutely no ideas how to continue from here, if you have ideas: share them with me, and maybe I'll get inspired to write more chapters!)_

* * *

With a determined look on her face Rory knocks on the door to Jess' hotel room. It doesn't take long before he opens.  
"Can I come in?" she says, in a voice that implies that no would not be accepted as an answer.  
"It's a free country." He opens the door wide and steps away from it.

She steps in, and immediately starts talking. He closes the door behind her.  
"First of all, leaving like that? That's old. Been there, done that, didn't get us very far, did it? Second of all, did you _not_ see the note I left you?" She glances over to the place she left it, sees that it has been opened and continues.  
"Apparently you have. So why didn't you call? Even if you don't agree with what I wrote, you should have called to tell me so. That's the polite thing to do. That's so people don't have to drive them self crazy walking around wondering whether you have seen their note or not. Is your phone not working?" She picks up his phone from the bedside table and quickly dials and after just a few seconds a ringing is heard in her handbag.  
"Looks like it's working." She puts the phone down. "Well, I guess I got my answer then. I'll be leaving now, if you don't mind me stealing your trademark move."

She starts walking towards the door, when Jess grabs her arm and drags her close to him. Without saying a word he presses his lips against hers, his hand soft but firm in the low of her back pressing her closer. She wraps her arms around his neck and starts kissing him back. For a while they stand so, as neither of them is willing to stop.

"Why didn't you call?" she asks moments later when they are finally able to stop kissing, they're still intertwined and their mouths are still very close, lips almost touching.  
"I haven't had the time. When I left here earlier I wandered around for a while and then went straight to a meeting. I only got back 10 minutes ago. I was just about to call you when you stormed in here."  
"Oh. Guess I was kind of overreacting there before then, huh?"  
He smiles.  
"Kind of, yeah."

He gives her a quick, light kiss on the lips, and his intention is to leave it at that. There are things he needs to know before this continues, no matter how wonderful it feels to have her in his arms and to kiss her, no matter how hard it is to let go he needs to know that they're on the same page, that's she's not suddenly going to pull away from him again. 'Just one more kiss', he thinks to himself as he presses his lips against hers yet again. Her response to his kiss however, makes it almost impossible for him to stop. It costs him an enormous amount of willpower to separate his lips from hers.

He reluctantly lets go of her and takes a step back, watching her closely, pondering.  
"So…everything's…taken care of?"  
She smiles.  
"I've broken up with Logan."  
That's all he needs to know. Everything else can be figured out at a later time. Right now it's all about them; the rest of the world can wait.


End file.
